“One,” I whispered. Wyatt was often late, too hungover to be anywhere near consciousness when the club opened.

“Perfect,” he murmured, eyes flickering to one of his men. “Have him brought to the mansion. I’d like to see what she would do if given the chance.”

My eyes widened, a thrill finally breaking through the disbelief.

Me?

He was going to letmekill Wyatt?

From dream to unattainable dream, those desires had lived, and now… now, they were going to come true.

More than that…

He’s taking us with him, Bunny!

To a… a home. A real home with someone I knew I could finally belong with.

I moved before I could stop myself, stumbling forward and flinging my arms around him.

“Thank you!”

Then I froze in panic, remembering what he was—well, what he was—until I felt the gentle touch of his palm at the small of my back.

I leaned away and, for the first time, his skin brushed mine as his finger hooked beneath my chin. Static jumped through the touch, and I saw his pupils dilate.

“You’ll give me a show?”

“Yes.”

“Well, aren’t you justperfect, Omega?”

SEVEN

Present

THISTLE

I waited anxiously in the large room that was supposed to be mine, watching the clock on the TV tick down, wringing my hands.

Iwasn’tperfect like Ace had said that day—not even close.

Never had been, never would be.

But Ace had been promised to me by the universe—even if, on the day I’d met him, I still hadn’t believed we could truly be destined.

In the end, I’d learned that a mate was the most important thing in the world. Because even if he hated me and broke me, he couldn’tleaveme.

That partwasn’tallowed.

It’s why I had to get the truth out of Knox, because now… now I had another.

It was nice enough in here, I supposed. The bed was gigantic, draped in huge thick comforters that could swallow an Omega whole, and the heavy curtains covered massive windows, blocking out any hint of the outdoors. There was a walk-in wardrobe, and a fancy oak desk along the wall that could probably home a dozen sketchbooks. Or one really big one.

But more importantly, Knox’s bedroom and office were just down the hall. I had to pass them to get to the kitchen. That meant he hadn’t bought me so he could stuff me out of sight forever.

Ace had given me my own rooms with so much space it had blown my mind. I’d been excited until I realised I wasn’t allowed to leave, and all that space was just distance between us.

But here, there wasn’t even a lock on my door.